Alphabetic and numeric comparing unit for accounting machines



Aug. 30, 1949. M. SENS-OLIVE ALPHABETI C AND NUMERIC COMPARING UNIT FOR ACCOUNTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 25, 1948 fifCONDARY 201v:

D/5 TR/BUTOH I5 Sheets-Sheet l SECOIVLARY Z ONE /7 C 7'01? TOR.

INVENTOR,

Marneld'ens-Oliflf.

BY [4M ATTORNEY 1949- M. sENs-oL|vE 7 2,480,780

ALPHABETIC AND NUMERIC COMPARING UNIT FOR ACCOUNTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 25, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 iffl l'iimum FIG. E.

7 J a J Z 6 PRIMARY k Q PRIMARY DIG/T DISTRIBUTOR 5g ACTUATOR I a, f/

IN VEN TOR. j /an'el Sens-011m? ATTOR EY Aug. '30, 1949. M. SENS-OLIVE ALPHABETIC AND NUMERIC COMPARING UNIT FOR ACCOUNTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 25, 1948 mdI ,a M, Y Tl m R N 3 P m 0 V m m T m o z 2 J x w m A woI a M m w a u m Z 8 l 6 m m m w m m 0 Q r a V. M B EQFQ FPQQ QOkQQRthRu KQFDQFRQRQ 3 @EEK $3M EEEmm km NEON mizkmnx mum Patented Aug. 30, 1949 :ALRHABETIC AND NUMERIC .COMBARING UNIT .FOR ACCOUNTING MACHINES -Marcel Sens-Olive, Paris, France, .assignor to international Business Machines Corporation, .rNew 'YorkfiN. a ,corporationof iNew Xork Application February 25, 19,48, Serial No.' '1Q,'63,4 InFranceOctober 29, 1942 seotionil, rubueLaw 69. Au us a :19A6 .Patentexpires October-29, 1. .62

3 Claims. (Cl. 235- 6117 1 Elle ,present invention relates to. apparatus for comparing perforated record data and Whic'his designed :for use in connection with accountin machines for merging groupso'f.tabulatingcarfiS.

asfforlexample, the record controlled machine shown. and describ.c.d.injthe 'U. 1S. ;P,atent ,tosRfE. Page,.No. 2,359,67.0,-datep1 October '3, 1944. In this ,patent .two comparing units, called in :the patent primary and secondary comparing units, are vfound. The construction of these units is such-that theyieach constitute an ana- 'lyzing, mechanism capable .Qf comparing 'between .them .the numbers represented by perforations in .the tabulating cards. Generally speaking, these comparing unitsare capable of detecting aniegual,,ahigh or a'low-condition between;the two numbers represented on'the cards.

In a co peniding application of I."Ghertman, Serial No. 4 663.34, filejdNovember "13, 11942, under theprovisions ojf CommissionersfOrder"N05136fi2, forRecord comparing devices'iand which application hasbeen allowed but on which action has been suspended for lack of legislation-permittin valid dating of the application, and now abandoned, another type of comparing unitis disclosed. "This latter .type of unit is suitable "for use in the machine of the first mentionedpatent and by means thereof alphabetic,indicati-ons'may be comparedhy "a determination of 'whether a letter orggroup of letters, "as "for example 1 awo 'd,

is "to :be placed .in alphabetic order-before, after or 'withanother" letter, group of;letters or award. In. the numerical 'comparingunit of-the original record controlling :machine, exemplified by the "above'mentioned Page-patent, andint-he alphabetic comparing unit of' the improvement aseX emp'lrfiedin the above mentionediapplication,"as 'welltas in-allsuch-comparing units pf't'his general type, I the comparing apparatus depends largely "forits operation upon mechanical instrumentalities which-although theymay, in-t-heflnal analysis, be employed to actuate 'electrical -de- 'vicesincluding various circuit makingand-breaking mechanism, arenevertheless mechanical in their-function and, "as such, consisting as they do "of complicated ratchet mechanisms; including toothed-sectors, ;pa-w1s,'- linkages and the like, are relatively delicate -and, =furthermore, are costly inasmuch as they require detailed machining operation in their manufacture.

The present invention is designed as an lmprovement over all such electromechanical-comparing devices as thoseoutlined'above in that in practice thereof the mechanical details are reduced *to 'a minimum and --the apparatus 'fun c- .tions ratherias an .-e1e ctrical device .thanas .a

mechanical one; Moreover, the nature or the electrical control circuits and .instrum ntali ie employed ,in the present invention ,is such that theapparatus iscapabl ofisimultan ou l ffecting alphabetical comparisons ,at .willand. 01 56- quently, of. efiectine either ,a1 habetic. or, numeric comparisons. exclusively.

Accordin .to the presen invention, the -analyzing .circuits of .an accounting machine of the type set forth'intheabove mentionedjPage paten areaso modifiedand au mented .by theprovision .Qf electrical .instrumentalities that a prQ BSs i followed wherein the sig r1ificant ,figures of the same digital order of .a 1In1llti-digi n mber ma be compared by the .use ,or three contact parts orelements electr callyiisolatcd from oneanother and cooperat n with the analyzin devices n such a way that eachof these threelfiarts respectively icontrolrelectrical circuits correspondin t an..equa1,.a1high orailow condition- In carry ng o tth s, principl ias. nt e eofthe mec nica devices previously, described, 115. Of primary and s condary. mparison/units. is r sort dt forlb t Z n aniijdi tal comparison "In order to facilitate acomprehension offthe invention, adescription will'begiven as anindication, and not asa 'limitation of one embodiment of thefinvention arranged .to'be manually controlled and it Will be understood.that'the manipulation thereof jsperformed,accordlng to a conventional codification in which a given number isrepresentedibya single perforationin a selected column of a carriat oneoftthenumerical ,or digital index positionsjI to"9 thereof. Accord-ingto this codification, a givenletter is represented by two perforati'ons located in the'same column "of a card, one of'these pertorati-on corresponding to one of the numerical "or "digital indexpositipns ,1 to 9 inclusive, while the other; perforation is 'aso-called top or zone perforation, Le, a

perforation oorrespondingqto one of the "index the jacks of the former. The primary comparing distributors each include a primary zone distributor and a primary digit distributor, while the secondary comparing distributors each include a secondary Zone distributor and a secondary digit distributor.

The principle involved in the present invention resides in an arrangement of the above mentioned comparing elements for each digital order of magnitude of both alphabetic and numeric indications to be compared wherein a group of zone comparing elements and a group of digit comparing elements are connected to each other electrically by a suitable multiple wire or cable. In other words, the invention contemplates a new combination of groups of primary and secondary elements with other groups of primary and secondary elements, one group of elements being designed for digital comparison and positioning according to the passage of punched holes 9 to inclusive under the analyzin brushes of an accounting machine, whereas the other group of elements is designed for zone comparison and positioning according to the passage of punched top or zone holes 0, 11 and 12 through an accounting machine.

In the form of the invention shown, the secondary zone comparing elements are in the form of rotors formed of insulating material carrying on their peripheries two opposed conducting segments between which there are disposed two tooth-shaped extensions or segments formed on a conducting ring electrically insulated from the two segments. A cooperating stator carries analyzing brushes connected to the jacks 0, 11, 12 ani 13 of an associated primary zone distributor.

The secondary digit comparing elements are similarly constructed and the stator thereof carries analyzing brushes connected to the jacks 9 to 0 inclusive of an associated primary digit distributor. The stators of both secondary distributors are provided with additional analyzing brushes, hereinafter referred to as status selecting brushes, which are respectively connected to output or Work circuits corresponding to the equal, high or low states.

In order that the invention may be better understood, there will be a description by way of indication, and not of limitation, of one mode of realization of the invention involving the comparison of two combined alphabetic and numeric indications which are taken as examples. The two indications selected for example are arbitrarily chosen as C'TM and. 07E and, accordingly, in the various disclosures of the accompanying drawings, the various electrical instrumentalities have been set up to illustrate a comparison between these indications.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, entirely schematic in its representation, of a group of zone comparing instrumentalities including a primary zone distributor and a secondary zone distributor, together with manual means for controlling these distributors.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view, similar to Fig. 1, showing a primary digit distributor and a secondary digit distributor, together with control means therefor.

Fig. 3 is a wiring diagram of an assembled alphabetic and numeric comparing unit capable of accommodating three numeric or alphabetic orders of magnitude.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view in table form showing the particular codification system employed.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the apparatus is de signed to represent a conventional codification system in which a predetermined letter is represented by two punched holes situated in the same column of a card and in which a predetermined number is represented by a single punched hole in a card column. Thus, for example, the letter C will appear in the form of two punched holes in a particular card column, one hole being formed in the 3 digit zone or index point position and the other hole being formed as a top or zone perforation in the 12 index point position or zone, while the numeral 7 will appear on the card as a single hole punched in the 7" digit or index point position of the card. It is obvious that any other codification system could be adopted without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In machines of the type shown and described in the above mentioned Page patent, all numeric indication, i. e., those corresponding to the index point positions 9" to 0, are registered by actuating devices designated as numeric, whereas all alphabetic designations, i. e., those utilizing a top hole corresponding to the index point positions O, 11 and 12 are registered by actuating devices referred to as alphabetic. These alphabetic and numeric devices are essentially the same in principle, but while the electrical circuits of the numeric devices permit registration only during passage of punched holes 9 to 0, the circuits of the alphabetic devices permit registration only at the passage of the so-oalled top or zone holes 0, 11 and 12. These latter devices, namely, the alphabetic devices, will automatically become engaged at a cycle point corresponding to a reading of the punched hole 0 and will become disengaged at a point in the cycle corresponding to the reading of the zone hole which presents itself under the analyzing brushes of the accounting machine.

In a case where no zone hole exists in the card, i. e., when there exists in the column undergoing sensing only a single punched hole representative of a numeral, the alphabetic devices go beyond the point 12 in the cycle and are disengaged at the point I3.

In the present embodiment of the invention, as illustrated herein, the zone actuating devices are designated in Fig, l at 10 and 20 respectively, the former being hereinafter referred to as a primary zone actuating device and the latter being referred to as a secondary zone actuating device. The primary zone actuating device It is adapted to be manually or otherwise brought to a position representative of the zone in the primary card associated with a particular letter which, in the example selected, is the letter C, this being the letter in the highest order of the indication C'TM selected for comparison with the indication C'IE. The secondary zone actuating device 29 is also adapted to be manually or otherwise brought to a position representative of the zone in the secondary card associated with the letter in the corresponding highest order of the indication undergoing comparison which, in the present instance, is also the letter 0. Thus, in both in stances, the primary and secondary devices l0 and 20 are brought to a 12 position as may be determined from the codification system illustrated in Fig. 4.

The digit actuating devices are designated in Fig. 2 at 30 and 46 respectively, the former being referred to hereinafter as a primary digit actuating device and the latter as a secondary digit ordersof the groups, the pimary digit actuator and the secondary digit actuator 30 and 40 re-' spectively will each be set, either manually or otherwise, to an indication 3", which is the digital part of the codification and augments the zone 8 the primary zone distributor, brush 46, 13 jack, wire d, "13" brush of the secondary zone distributor, toothed extension 26, E brush, wire 1), ringM ofthe primary digit distributor, brush 5 46, '7 jack, wire m, 7 brush, toothed extenpart [2. This will allow the brush 46' to fall on sion 26', ring 32, E brush, and a wire 1' in an the jack 3 and the toothed extension 26' to underequality representing circuit leading to the next lie the analyzing brush 3. stage. 1

Referring now to Fig. 3, when the electrical di- In the two stages through which circuits have agram for the comparing apparatus is set up to 10 just been traced, conditions of equality, first, beaccomodate comparison of the character group tween the alphabetic character C and, second, be- 0n the p y Card w the cha a ter tween the numerical character 7, have existed. group 07M on the secondary card, this figure is In the stage to follow, an unequal condition will divided into three sections or zones labeled H, T be found since a comparison between the characand U, reading from left to right, and representers E and M is to be made. As will appear prestative of the highest order of comparison, inter ently, this inequality indicates that the primary mediate order of comparison and lowest order of letter E is lower than the secondary letter M, or, comparison and which, were the designations conversely, that the secondary letter M is higher purely numerical instead of mixed numerical and than the primary letter E, and thus a suitable outalphabetical, would represent units, tens and put circuit will be accordingly energized. hundreds orders. This output circuit is designated as S P and The schematic set-up of structure in Figs. 1 indicates that the card bearing the primary desand 2 isdesigned to repesent the left zone H of ignation is to be placed before the card bearing Fig. 3 and it will be understood that the middle the secondary designation. The primary zone acand right-hand zone of Fig. 3 may well be acg5 tuator l0 and the secondary zone actuator 20 are commodated by manipulation, either manual or accordingly manually or otherwise preset, the automatic, of the actuators I0, 20, and 40. former for a 12 indication and the latter for an 11 The diagram of Fig. 3 may be represented by designation, which are the zone designations for the following table: the characters E and M respectively. Similarly,

Character Data H T U P h t o C 7 E gi O arac er mup {Primary (Zone) "12 Primary (Zone) l3 Primary (Zone) l2 Primary (Dglt) 3 Pr1mary(D71git) 7 Prunary(%ig1t) 5 Secondary (Zone).. l2

Secondary Character Group Secondary (Digit) 3 Secondary (Zone) ..l1 Secondary (Digit) 4 In the operation of the apparatus, the comparison is first effected by comparing the two corresponding left-hand highest order significant letters or figures oi the indications (namely, 07E and (J-7M) to be compared. If an equal condition is detected (as is the case in the present example, the comparison is automatically .directed to the following significant letters or figures of the next lowest or intermediate order. If an equal condition is again detected (as is the case in the present instance), the comparison is again directed to the significant letters orfigures of the next lower order. Where character groups of many orders are undergoing comparison, the above arrangement continues until a high or a low condition is detected, after which no further comparisons of lower orders are necessary.

Where automatic operation is concerned in connection with machines of the type set forth inthe patent disclosures mentioned earlier in this specification, at a chosen cycle point a cam controlled contact or other circuit controlling device, herein represented simply by a manual switch SW, is op-' erated and current flows from the source S through wire e, segment 44 of the primary zone distributor, brush 46, 12 jack 45, 12 Wire 0, 1 brush 34 of the secondary zone distributor, toothed extension 26, ring 32, E brush 36, wire p, contact segment 44 of the primary digit distributor, brush 46', 3 jack 3 wire 2, 3 brush 34', toothed extension 2%, ring 32, E brush 36', and through a wire q in the circuit which represents an equal condition and leading to the next com parison stage for the two numerical characters '7 in the character group selected for comparison.

In this second comparative stage, the circuit continues from the wire q to the segment 44 of the primary digit actuator 30 and the secondary digit actuator 40 are preset for indications 5 and 4 respectively which are the digit index positions for the two designations. Then, irom the wire 1', the circuit continues to the segment 14 of the primary zone distributor, brush 48, 12 jack, wire 0 to the 12" brush, which now instead of resting on the toothed extension '26 rests upon the segment l8. This may be determined from an inspection of Fig. 1 for, when it is realized that the secondary zone actuator 29 is set so that the 11 brush rests upon the toothed extension 25, the 12 brush will then rest upon the segment i8. From the, segment 18 the circuit continues through the circuit selecting brush H, wires s and t to the output circuit S P.

From the description it will be seen that an inequality has been detected at the point where a comparison of the zone positions of the letters E and M appearing on the primary and secondary cards respectively is made. At this point, the previously traced labyrinth circuit leading all the way from the source through the primary zone distributor and secondary zone distributor in the two highest orders of the characters under consideration is diverted directly to the inequality circuit S P and does not pass through the primary and secondary digit distributors of the lowest order of the characters under consideration. It is also clear that had the inequality been reversed so that the primary character was greater than the secondary character, the circuit would have led out from the secondary zone distributor through the brush L and from thence directly to the output circuit S P. Likewise, had the com parison resulted in an equality of characters, a labyrinth circuit would be traced through the primary and secondary zone distributors. and crimary and secondary digit distributors to'the' conducting ring 32' in the third or lowest order of the comparison to the outputcircuit- S=P.'

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of" the invention as applied to a preferred embodi= ment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes-in the form and details of the device illustratedand' in its operati'on may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited onl as indicated by the scope of the following claims;

What is claimed is: v

1. Apparatus for comparing the relative magnitude-of a primary quantity with the magnitude of a secondary quantity to determine whether a low, an equal or ahighconditi'dn exists in the comparison comprising primary distributor and a secondary distributor, each of said distributors including a movable part and a stationary part, the stationary part of said primary distributor including a series of contact elements representing progressively increasing digit values and the movable part thereof including a settable distributor brush designed for selective engagement with said contact elements, means for supplying energizing current to said brush, the stationary part of said secondary distributor including a series of contact brushes representing digit values corresponding to the values represented by said contact elements, means electrically connecting each contact element to a respective contact brush, the movable part of said secondary distributor including three settable contact segments which are electrically insulated and fixed relative to one another, one representing a low condition, one representing an equal condition and the other representing a high condition in the comparison and designed for cooperation with said contact brushes, a plurality of output circuits leading from said secondary distributor representative of a low, an equal and a high condition respectively, of a contact brush for each circuit, said last mentioned contact brushes being positioned so that when said distributor brush is set in accordance with the magnitude of said primary quantity and the movable part of said secondary distributor is set according to the magnitude of said secondary quantity energizing current will flow from said distributor brush to one of said output circuits, depending upon the existence of a low, an equal or a high condition between the primary and secondary quantities.

Apparatus for comparing the relative magnitude of a primary quantity with the magnitude of a secondary quantity to determine whether a low, an equal or a high condition exists in the comparison comprising a primary distributor and a secondary distributor, each of said distributors including a rotary part and a stationary part, the stationary part of said primary distributor including a series of contact elements representing progressively increasing values and the rotary part thereof including a settable distributor brush designed for selective engagement with said contact elements, means for supplying energizing current to said brush, the stationary part of said secondary distributor including a series of contact brushes representing values corresponding to those represented by said contact elements, means electrically connecting each contact element to a respective and corresponding contact brush, the rotary part of said secondary distributor including three settable contact segments,

10 one representing a low condition, one representing; an equal condition and the other representing a high condition in the comparison and designed for cooperation with said contact brushes, a plurality of output circuits leading from said secondary distributor representative of a low, an equal and a high condition respectively, a contact brush for each circuit, said last mentioned contact brushes being positioned so that when said distributor brush is set in accordance with the magnitude of said primary quantity and the rotary part of said secondary distributor is set in accordance with the magnitude of said secondary quantity energizing current will flow from said distributor brush to one of said output circuits, depending upon the existence of a low, an equal or a high condition between the primary and secondary quantities.

3. Apparatus for comparing the relative magnitude of a primary quantity with the magnitude of a secondary quantity to determine whether a low, an equal or a high condition exists in the comparison, said quantities being represented by code perforations in respective record media undergoing comparison including zone perforations and digit perforations, said apparatus comprising a primary zone distributor and a secondary zone distributor, each of said distributors including a rotary part and a stationary part, the stationary part of said primary zone distributor including a series of contact elements representing different zone perforations in the record media and the rotary part thereof including settable distributor brushes designed for selective engagement with said contact elements, means for supplying energizing current to said brush, the stationary part of said secondary distributor including a series of contact brushes representing the zone perforations corresponding to those represented by said contact elements, means electrically connecting each contact element to a respective and corresponding contact brush, the rotary part of said secondary distributor including three contact segments, one representing a low condition, one representing an equal condition and the other representing a high condition in the comparison of zone perforations and designed for cooperation with said contact brushes, a plurality of output circuits leading from said secondary distributor representative of a low, an equal and a high condition respectively, a contact brush for each circuit, said last mentioned contact brushes being positioned so that when said distributor brush is set in accordance with a zone perforation representative of the primary quantity and the rotary part of said secondary distributor is set according to the zone position representative of the sec ondary quantity, energizing current will flow from said distributor brush to one of said output cir cuits, depending upon the existence of a low, an equal or a high condition between the zone perforations which are representative of the primary and secondary quantities, a primary digit distributor and a secondary digit distributor each including a rotary part and a stationary part, the stationary part of said latter distributor including a series of contact elements each representative of a digit and the rotary part thereof including a settable distributor brush designed for selective engagement with said latter contact elements, means electrically connecting said latter distributor brush in the output circuit leading from said secondary zone distributor, the stationary part of said secondary digit distributor including a series of contact brushes representing digit values corresponding to those represented by said latter contact elements, means electrically connecting each contact element of the primary digit distributor to a respective and corresponding contact brushof the secondary digit distributor, the rotary part of said secondary digit distributor including three settable contact segments, one representing a low condition, one representing an equal condition, and the other representing a high condition in the comparison of digit perforations in the record media undergoing comparison and designed for cooperation with the contact brushes of said secondary digit distributor, a plurality of output circuits leading from said secondary digit distributor representative of a low, an equal and a high condition respectively in the comparison of digit perforations in the record media, a contact brush for each of said 12 latter circuits, said last mentioned contact brushes being positioned so that when the distributor brush of said primary digit distributor is set in accordance with the digit perforation of said primary quantity and the rotary part of said secondary digit distributor is set in accordance with the magnitude of the digit portion of said secondary quantity, energizing current will flow from the distributor brush of said primary digit distributor to one of said latter output circuits, depending upon the existence of a low, an equal or a high condition between the digit perforations which are representative of said primary and secondary quantities.

'MARCEL SENS-OLIVE.

No references cited. 

